ISO FileMaker Magazine

It's that time of year again. The annual FileMaker Devcon approaches and FileMaker, Inc's commitment to more timely releases comes true yet again. This time around we have a number of new features. In this video I provide a quick hit list of all the major features you'll find within this latest release. Here's the list of new items covered.

00) Application Icon
01) Developer Tools
02) Redesigned Launch Center
03) New Hosts Dialog
04) Rearranged File Menu
05) Redesigned Layout Mode
06) Copy Paste Custom Menus
07) Info box in Manage Dialog
08) Layouts Subgroup Selections
09) Built-In Master Detail
10) Default Fields
11) Mini Apps
12) Multiple Email Attachments
13) Scripts - Perform Script by Name
14) Scripts - Show Dialog Input Variables
15) Scripts - Exports create folders
16) Go - iOS Local Notification
17) Go - GetSensor Function
18) Function Get ( UUIDNumber )
19) Function Get ( ActiveRecordNumber )
20) Data Migration Tool
21) Revised FileMaker Server
22) Updated FileMaker Data API

When it comes time to “professionalize” your FileMaker solution, this typically includes integrating a splash screen. Even if your solution is only used internally, that extra bit of branding solidifies that mental spot of recall when a user needs to communicate which database they’re using.

So what better way to say “You are here” than presenting a nice, attractive splash screen? In this video, I walk through the step-by-step process of adding a cool-looking splash screen to our ongoing project of the Custom Function database.

In the process of doing so, I explain a variety of other reasons as to why I choose the method showcased in the video. It’s more than just the pretty picture which shows on startup. It deals with startup speed and other helpful features such as increased security potential. If you’re going to put your best foot forward, then follow the method shown in this video!

Over the years, FileMaker has added, enhanced and modified various areas of the development platform. One of the areas which has seen a big transition is the way favorites are managed. If you're a long-time developer of FileMaker solutions, then one of the more recent changes in FileMaker 16 may be a bit disconcerting.

The change was to how favorites are managed. In fact, they simply took out the menu option and sorta left you hanging. The "Manage favorites..." menu is no longer present within FileMaker 16. If you were used to heading to that menu item in order to reorder, add or remove favorites, then your access to the dialog was recently cut off.

It was replaced a while back, but isn't all that obvious if you've not used the new Launch Center's cute little "star" (favorite) icons. This now pretty much the only way to manage favorite files and hosts. Fortunately, once you get used to the new way of doing things, you can easily take back control over your favorite hosts and files.

Most everyone likes to know what's going on when something is happening. Being kept in the dark is something which causes possible anxiety and certainly a fair amount of impatience. So, it's always nice to provider your user with a little bit of status when there's some type of progress happening.

Fortunately, this is a very easy thing to solve when a lot of the work is already done for you. All you need to do is wire things up within a FileMaker web viewer.

Using the information within this video you can easily present your users with an indeterminate progress indicator. At least letting them know that something is happening rather than nothing.

There are all kinds of nice graphic tips and tricks within FileMaker and one of my most favorite is using the transparent line setting in order to create the rounded effect on multiple segment Button Bars.

Who likes spending time doing things in FileMaker Pro when you can do things faster? How about no one. That’s why this video will help you save some time when you discover the various ways you can interact with layout objects and your data.

So, here’s 5 different tips which will save you some time while working in FileMaker Pro.

Some buttons in your user interface are likely more than obvious in terms of what they do. But what about those times when they're not and it's just nice to let the user know what just happened? Using a combination of Slider panels and mutli-segment Button Bars you can provide any type of feedback you might like to show.

This video presents a method for showing the user some feedback about the results of clicking a button or any other user interface action taken.

Note to subscribers: If you're looking for the file, then you'll find it within the Part 11 download. The link is provided below.

Integrating third party APIs can be a bit daunting when you’ve never worked with them before. Fortunately, the most difficult part of the process is simply taking the time to research the API and implement the features you’d like to have.

When you’re working within FileMaker, you’re often capturing content which may need to be pushed into another online location - such as Dropbox. If your FileMaker solution needs this, then adding FileMaker Dropbox integration is the way to go.

With FileMaker 16, you can now use the native cURL functionality in order to directly upload a file into a designated Dropbox account. Once you’ve made the connection with Dropbox, you can pretty much do anything you’d like to your dropbox account.

This video will teach you all about using the new FileMaker 16 Card Window and show you how to take advantage of the fact that you can have a totally different position for the card window outside of the parent which where it belongs.

With a bit of creative FileMaker scripting you can create some really nice features for your FileMaker database.

On May 9th 2017 FileMaker Inc. released FileMaker version 16. This version included a big number of major features designed to support FileMaker's ability to communicate with the rest of the Internet. As a globally connected software application, FileMaker has clearly stated that it's a highly viable platform for rapid application deployment.